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Thursday, January 03, 2013

DEMBA BA GETS NEWCASTLE BLESSINGS TO JOIN CHELSEA, UNDERGOES MEDICALS

Senegal forward, Demba Ba is on the verge of joining Chelsea from Newcastle.

Ba left out of the Newcastle squad for the game against
Everton ahead of his proposed £7million switch, underwent a medical on
Wednesday.Newcastle confirmed Chelsea had triggered the striker’s £7m release
clause and that he had been left out of Wednesday night's 2-1 defeat to
hold talks with Chelsea officials.

The Stamford Bridge club saw off late interest from Arsenal in Ba, who,
it is understood, will earn around £70,000 a week at his new club — a
significant improvement on his terms in the North East.

Chelsea’s bid looked in the balance on Sunday after talks between Ba’s
representatives and club officials broke down over his wage demands.

Ba’s advisors had initially rejected Chelsea’s
attempts to hold further talks on Monday, saying they wanted to speak
with other interested parties, However, Chelsea moved quickly on Wednesday after a significant breakthrough

The Senegal striker, 27, joined Newcastle in 2011 from West Ham and has
scored 29 goals in 54 league games for them. But he has been
consistently linked with a move away from the club because of the
release clause in his contract.

Newcastle have tried several times to persuade the striker to sign a
new, improved deal in a bid to get rid of the clause but Ba has always
refused.

Benitez had put a new striker at the top of his January shopping list
after Liverpool’s £12m capture of Daniel Sturridge, which was confirmed
on Wednesday, left Torres as his only recognised striker.

Owner Roman Abramovich remains interested in Atletico Madrid’s Radamel
Falcao but it is looking increasingly likely the Russian will have to
wait until the summer to land him.